Never Regret
by kitkat78
Summary: Naraku is finally defeated...this time for good...but one of the members of the group does not survive to see the end of it all. Warning: Character death. 1st Inu fic! :


Hi! Welcome to my first Inuyasha fanfic! I write mainly Yu-Gi-Oh fics, but I've recently fallen in love with the Inuyasha anime, and this little thought popped into my head and wouldn't stop gnawing at my ankles until I wrote it:) All critiques welcome, flames, compliments, what have you!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha – NOT MINE!

I knelt inside the grassy circle, the soft breeze whipping through my hair, tiny strands swirling around my face. The flowers I carried drooped slightly in my hand, as if sensing their purpose in my visit to this place. Biting my lip, I placed my hand on the stone shrine marker that sat in the center of the circle and bowed my head, fighting desperately to not let the tears that stung my eyes fall.

_Why? Why now? We were so close, so close to victory – to us. Why?  
__  
_"Why did you leave me?" I whispered, losing the battle against my tears, feeling them slide down my cheeks. "I loved you so much, my beloved. Oh Buddha, I love you so much still. I feel so afraid without you."

My words broke off into muffled sobs and I leaned my face against the grave, the coolness of the stone counteracting the raging flames of sorrow swirling inside of me.

"You never saw the final defeat of Naraku, my love," I whispered, wiping my face with the edge of my robe. "We did it, we finally did it. After all we went through, we won…and you aren't even here to celebrate all our victory. We couldn't have done it without you, darling. God, we miss you so much. There isn't a day gone by that we don't think of you, how you always brightened all our day, always."

I lifted my head and gazed up at the cloudless blue sky. I always hated cloudy days, and I knew that you were up there brightening my day once again, and I had to smile.

"Do you remember the last thing you said to me?" I murmur, laying the flowers down beside your grave. "I will never forget it…it is one of the few things that keep me going, keep me sane. It was your final gift to me, and I cherish it, my love."

_-_

"_Wind Scar!" Inuyasha shouted, whipping the Tetsusaiga in Naraku's direction. Kagome's arrow pierced through the center of the wave, adding her own sacred power to that of Inuyasha's. _

"_Shippo!" Sango shouted, grabbing the tiny fox out of the path of destruction. Flinging the kitsune onto the back of Kirara, Sango leapt up herself, hiraikotsu at the ready, waiting for her opening to take Naraku apart. Glancing down, her eyes widened as she saw Miroku leap forward, grabbing at the prayer beads covering his right hand._

'Something isn't right,' _she thought, furrowing her brow in confusion. _'Something's wrong…why are his prayer beads glowing? It's almost as if they're warning him…'

_Her heart stopped as her thoughts came together. "NO! Houshi-sama, no!" she screamed. "Don't use the wind tunnel! Miroku!"_

_Miroku turned his head in her direction, a frown crossing his face as the prayer beads came away from his right hand. _

"_Sango, what are you…" he began, before his eyes grew wide and he clutched at his right wrist. "What's going…augh!"_

_The cloth covering his hand fell away, revealing the gaping hole in his palm. Normally small, the hole had grown to fill his entire palm. The force of the suction was intense, rapidly sucking in everything in front of it, uprooting trees and boulders._

_Miroku grabbed his wrist, frantically trying to get the beads over his hand, but rather than close the wind tunnel, the force pulled the beads into the void. _

"_No!" Miroku shouted, his only safety mechanism from the tunnel gone into the nothingness. Sango leapt off Kirara's back, racing over to the monk, reaching him as he collapsed to his knees._

"_Miroku!" she screamed. "Miroku what's happening?" She threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his back, the whipping winds tugging at her. She could see Inuyasha clutching Kagome tightly, the Tetsusaiga planted firmly into the ground as an anchor, as he tried to stop them from being pulled into the void. He was shouting something at the monk, but Sango couldn't make out the words he was saying over the noise of the wind tunnel. _

_Naraku's face tightened in fear as he was pulled mercilessly towards the void. He was shouting, trying to hold onto something to stop himself, but he was relentlessly dragged forward. As a last resort, he released a massive swarm of his saimyosho, but Miroku, unable to cover the tunnel, sucked the cloud of insects in. _

_Miroku cried out as the poison of the insects flooded his system. He fell backwards, clutching at his wrist, unable to stop the wind tunnel as it grew ever larger. His eyes grew wide as he felt Sango's arms circle his waist, holding him close. He turned his head to look up at her. _

"_Sango," he said, his voice trembling. "This…this is the end for me. I'm sorry, so sorry. I will…I will miss you so, my slayer. I will love you for all eternity, you know."_

_Sango clutched him tighter, tears streaming down her face. "Houshi-sama, what are you saying?" she cried. "This is not the end, Miroku, don't you dare leave. I love you too much! Don't you dare leave me, not here, not now. Miroku, don't you leave me, I can't lose you!"_

_He sighed, a single tear streaking down his pale cheek. "You will never lose me, my slayer," he whispered. "I will be with you always, always with you. In everything you love, you will find a part of me. You were everything to me, all I ever needed. Don't ever give up, sweet Sango, and don't ever regret. I never did."_

_His eyes widened as the power in his hand grew stronger, the force beginning to overpower him._

"_Sango, get away from me!" Miroku screamed, throwing her aside. She cried out as she hit the ground. Raising her head, her body grew rigid with fear as she saw Miroku struggle to his feet, his body shaking as if it were caught in a current. He turned to look at her, a sad smile crossing his face._

"_Never regret our love," he said, before turning the wind tunnel towards himself. _

_With a deafening roar, the void on his hand grew enormous before drawing in on itself. Miroku stood tall and proud, his expression unchanging as he stared into Sango's eyes. With a final shriek, the tunnel imploded upon itself. Sango threw her arm up over her face, shielding her eyes from the bright explosion. When the dust settled, Miroku was gone._

_-_

"We defeated Naraku right after that, my monk," I whispered, tracing the characters carved on the stone. "Inuyasha struck the final blow right after you disappeared. It was magnificent, Miroku. You would have been so proud of him, so proud of all of us."

I sighed, dropping my head to stare at the bundle of flowers I had placed on your grave.

"Shippo misses you so much. He wants to know who will teach him how to be a man when he grows up," I said, a small smile playing on my lips. "Inuyasha usually mocks him, but Kagome's gotten quite good with her 'Sit.' Oh Miroku, if you could only see the two of them together now. They're so happy. Kagome has the entire shikon jewel in her possession. After Naraku died, the jewel reformed itself. Inuyasha had the chance to finally become full demon, but do you know what he did, Miroku? He handed the jewel to Kagome and told her to keep it. He chose her over the jewel. Kagome decided to stay in this time as a priestess and protect the jewel. Oh, Houshi, they're so much in love. It makes me so sad sometimes, thinking of how that should be you and I."

I stood and placed my hand on top of your shrine. "But I never regret, my monk," I said in a strong voice. "I never regret loving you, not for one moment. You were also all I ever needed, and I thank you for giving me the gift of yourself. I will cherish it for all time, my beloved Miroku."

Hearing a voice calling me, I turned my head towards the sound. "I must go for now, Houshi, but I know you're going with me," I said, placing a kiss on your stone. "I'm not afraid any more."

Stepping out of the grassy circle, I turned and walked the path to Kaede's village, heading toward my home there. Stepping through the door, I called out softly, "I'm home."

A tiny figure launched itself at me, wrapping its tiny arms around my waist. I laughed as I leaned down and placed a kiss on the figure's small head and brushed soft black hair away from their forehead. Bluish-gray eyes smiled up at me and tiny rosebud lips placed a kiss on my own cheek.

"Mama, you're back!" the child cried happily. "I missed you, mama!"

I gathered my son – _our son, _my mind corrected – into my arms and held him close as I sat down. He was born free of the wind tunnel, thus proving to all of us that Naraku was truly defeated. "I missed you, too, my little Mirokasha," I said to him. "I'm glad to be home."

He giggled, twisting around in my lap to look at me. "Mama, tell me the story of my dada," he said. "Tell me about dada's adventures."

Smiling down at the mirror image of the only man I had ever loved, I thanked Buddha once again for giving me this gift, this treasure.

"Well, Miro, your father was a wonderful man, who lived life without any regret…"

A/N: Well, that's that. Inuyasha's become one of my absolute favorite anime, if not my favorite Lol. I adore Miroku (lecher!), and anyway, I'm babbling, so read and review if you liked it, didn't like it, have a critique or a flame. Whatever you have to say, I want to read it! Arigato!


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